The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) began operation as a proactive conservation organization in 1973. They partnered with local people across the nation to form chapters and to become active in wildlife habitat projects. In addition, when good habitats were selected, live trapped turkeys in several eastern states were brought to Iowa. And as Iowa populations grew, live-trapping of these birds became the root stock for additional disbursements. In the mid 1980s, Marshall County was the recipient of wild turkeys that were released north of LeGrand and at Grammer Grove Wildlife Area. A few years later, another group of turkeys were given a new home near Luray at North Timber Creek. All have done well. These big birds have also accomplished their own version of habitat selection by following small watersheds.

Since the NWTF began 48 years ago, they have achieved some fantastic accomplishments due to the cooperation of local and state conservation organizations and building of local chapters and other partners. NWTF has been an active facilitator and investor to the tune of over $500 million nationally toward the goals of habitat conservation, restoration and preservation of our outdoor hunting heritage.

NWTF sums up their mission in these simple words — Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt. By saving and enhancing habitats to support wild turkeys, another element of conservation is accomplished. Namely it involves all kinds of other game and nongame wildlife that also live in and use the habitats that turkeys find worthy. Specific NWTF goals can be clarified a bit more. They focus on priorities established by science, work in areas where it is possible to have a meaningful impact on habitat and wildlife populations, use local level volunteers to find and enhance habitat projects, and retain a focus on forests, streamside corridors, fields and meadows and lastly, scrubland and grasslands.

New habitats, and new public lands in some instances, help insure that present and new hunters will have places to go to hunt. Nationally this amounts to more than 1.5 million new acres the public can use. NWTF will assist in hands-on public outreach for the hunting experience. They also recognize that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. They will continue to develop and maintain partnerships with local, state and other national conservation organizations. And NWTF wants to always make it easier for people to hunt by lowering barriers to introducing new hunters to the sport.

On the biology side of wild turkey facts are these notes to remember. The head of a wild turkey is not fully feathered by does have an assortment of fleshy appendages. On the top of its beak is an accumulation of material called the snood. It is important to turkey hens when selecting a mate. And it does help take away excess heat from the body.

Turkey eyes are visually very acute, rarely missing anything that moves on the ground or in the air. They have monocular periscopic vision, meaning the two eyes function independently with visual clues transmitted to the brain. Together the eyes work to create almost an entire 360 degree field of view.

Turkey ears are behind and below the eyes. Each ear registers sounds separately for analysis in the brain. A wild turkey can know the direction and distance to any sounds they hear.

A fleshy head is capable of expressing mood swings. Blood flow into and out of the head skins signals moods to other turkeys. Reds, white and blue colors dominate the turkey head and can change quickly. It serves as one form of communication between birds.

A wild turkey has between 5,000 and 6,000 feathers, all arranged in tracts. Those feathers serve as insulation, waterproofing and ornamentation. Iridescence of feathers is more outstanding on tom turkeys, a function that assists with mate selection. Males use their large tail feathers in a fan-like spread to advertise themselves to prospective hens. And a specialized group of hair-like feathers grows from the mid chest location on tom turkeys. It is called the beard. It will be short on young of the year males and up to 12 inches long on adult toms.

Flying is easy for turkeys and used to fly into nightly roosts or fly down in early morning into open fields. Escape from predators by flying works well. Wings are used to help give themselves dust baths. The wing span of an adult is about five feet. And those wings are strongly built to assist in fighting between males. The other fighting tool of male turkeys are spurs on the legs. If an attack is made, the spur can gouge into an opponent and cause injury. Spurs of up to 1.5 inches long are common.

The WONDERS OF WILDLIFE MUSEUM is located at the Johnny Morris’ complex at Bass Pro in Springfield, MO. Put this location on your bucket list of places to visit. For families it is very family friendly and fun place to visit. It is the largest Midwest attraction to immerse oneself into fish and wildlife attractions. Over 350,000 square feet of building space and 1.5 miles of trails allow people of all ages to see the aquarium and other displays of hunting related wonders. The museum broadcasts Wildlife Conservation Programs to worldwide sites with free digitally interactive options. A huge aquarium hosts 35,000 live fish and is the Midwest’s only sea turtle rescue facility. This museum complex honors anglers and hunters as stewards of our national lands and waters. Visitors gain an improved understanding of the role sportsmen and women play in long term conservation of land and marine habitats. Annual visitors to this complex exceed 1.6 million people per year.

And in a few years time, an addition will be built onto the Wonders of Wildlife Museum. What they have now is fantastic. What will be added will be a new building to be the new home of POPE and YOUNG CLUB’s archery artifacts and big game animals taken with bow and arrow. The P&Y museum building presently located in Chatfield, Minnesota has been sold. However the Pope and Young office space will stay in Chatfield, MN. P&Y retains ownership of all the artifacts and animal mounts and will move those items to Springfield, MO into the new building after it is built. P&Y’s materials of trophy heads, bows, arrows, broadheads, and historical items will join existing Archery Hall of Fame items and the Fred Bear Museum. It will all be a natural fit….to enhance the Wonders of Wildlife.

P&Y is a national conservation and archery organization dedicated to support and advocacy of bow and arrow hunting. They also serve as a record keeping organization for all of he 29 species of big game animals of North America. They have an extensive array of records and record books that is dutifully kept current as new qualifying animals are entered by the owners. Pope and Young Club records share a common bond and score keeping methodology with the Boone & Crockett Club. B&C has its own record keeping system that in many ways is identical to what P&Y uses. Together these organizations are cooperating to the fullest extent possible.

Reminder: HUNTER SAFETY CLASS is set for August 26th, from 6 to 9 pm and the following Saturday from 8 am until 4 pm. Sign up online at https://events.gooutdoorsiowa.com.